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Glass Playing Marbles (group of 3)
Object/Artifact
Three transparent glass marbles of the “cat’s-eye” type, each with coloured vanes suspended in clear glass. Two are smaller (roughly equal size) and one is notably larger (a “shooter”). Colours: one small marble with a single yellow vane; the larger marble with a broad yellow vane; and a third marble with a multicolour twist of yellow, red/orange, and blue. All show internal seed bubbles and surface wear.
2025.1.408
Common children’s playing marbles (bolas / canicas / chinatas). Marbles were a ubiquitous children’s game in Cuba as elsewhere; the cat’s-eye style was mass-produced worldwide from roughly the 1950s onward and widely imported.
The Cabrera Arús family collection
2025.1
Cat’s-eye marbles span the 1950s onward, so potentially within 1959–c.1990, but this cannot be confirmed from the objects and must come from provenance. Flagged pending documentation. Playing marbles are essentially never marked; there is no brand, mark, or country of origin on any of the three. Cat’s-eye marbles were produced by many manufacturers internationally (Japanese, then widely elsewhere).
3 marbles (2 smaller, 1 larger/shooter)
Glass
Glass (clear, with coloured glass vanes and internal seed bubbles).
Good
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
Use